Itanagar: Heavy landslides and deluge triggered by incessant heavy rainfall during the last five days coupled with a cloudburst took a heavy toll on the Orang-Kalaktang-Shergaon-Rupa-Tenga (OKSRT) road in Arunachal Pradesh, breaching road formations, washing away culverts, retaining walls at multiple locations, as a result of which road communication has been severely impeded, Defence sources said on Sunday.
“Due to the unrelenting rain, BRO officials reported a lot of damage to road infrastructure, houses and property in the area. Road communication has been severely impeded,” Tezpur-based Defence PRO Lt Col A S Walia said.
Landslides of varying sizes occurred at 63 locations amounting to an approximate length of 2.5 km, formation breaches of an approximate length of 1.3 km, he said and added that a lot of damage to permanent works like embankments, culverts, retaining walls and drain has been caused due to the deluge.
“One family living in a hotel got completely washed away, while five motorcycles, a Tata Sumo, four shops and one hotel was washed away,” he said, adding that 120 locals along with 2 officers, 2 drivers and 3 operators of Project Vartak got stranded at Km 73 due to formation breach on either side.
In spite of inclement weather conditions and tough terrain, BRO Karamyogis could manage to create a foot track through the slide and breach zone, and leading from the front the Officer Commanding 91 RCC of BRO has been able to evacuate his stranded men along with 120 civilians within 12 hours.
Project Vartak has deployed its men and machines who are working tirelessly day and night to open the road on priority in spite of all odds. All efforts are on towards restoration of single lane communication at the earliest and thereafter, for all types of vehicular traffic, provided there is no more nature’s fury, the Defence PRO said.
